Tuesday, 28 February 2012

Mumbai: After a dull last week, the new releases didn't register great numbers at the ticket windows either. The opening of both the latest films, Jodi Breakers and Tere Naal Love Ho Gaya were dull, say tradesmiths, adding that neither will make any profit from the theatrical run.

The Riteish Deshmukh-Genelia D'Souza rom-com opened with Rs 1.75 crore on Friday. And despite picking up on Saturday-Sunday to take the three-day total to Rs 7.5 crore, trade expert Komal Nahta wrote on his website, 'The overall figures were on the lower side.'

Fortunately, the producers, TIPS have sold the film to UTV, which in turn sold it to some of the territories. "So for them, TNLHG is not a losing proposition," reiterates Nahta.

In the same vein, veteran trade analyst Amod Mehra adds that the other distributors and sub-distributors who bought the subsequent rights, will not make money. Pegging the cost of Jodi Breakers at Rs 25 crore, including prints and advertising, and TNLHG at Rs 20 crore, Mehra feels the Madhavan-Bipasha Basu starrer will be the bigger loser at the box office.

"The reason being that the makers have neither sold the territories nor the satellite rights. So they stand to lose about Rs 10-12 crore on their total investment," he says, adding that the distributors and sub-distributors won't make money on TNLHG either.

A distributor on condition of anonymity points out that the movie didn't deliver what it promised to, and it wasn't all that it was being projected as. "To a major extent, the two films ate into each other's businesses. I think they suffered more due to their clash at the box office," says a distributor from Delhi.

He further added, "Maybe if the two films had released solo, they would have got some respectable numbers. Economically, both are making losses."

Though both the films registered their presence with promotions on satellite television, and print and outdoor advertising, Girish Wankhede, the representative of a multiplex, feels the pitch to market the movies to the public seemed to be way off the mark.

"Despite the visibility, they marketing didn't engage the audience, and consequently, a proper perception of the movies couldn't be built up. That's why they registered such low occupancy in the first three days," he sums up.

The situation was not much different for the Hollywood imports like Moneyball, The Artist, Carnage and My Week With Marilyn.

Fortunately for The Artist, the occupancy increased slightly on Sunday, points out Wankhede. And now that the film has won the Oscar for Best Film, Best Director and Best Actor, Mehra hopes the film will register decent numbers for the rest of the week.